1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mosquito trap for controlling infectious disease carrying insects (vectors) and other mosquitos that cause irritations and specifically to a low cost trap that requires no periodic maintenance.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
The mosquito is a bane to humans and animals alike. It is a nuisance, a pest, an irritation and a deadly disease carrying killer. Some of the approximately 2700 varieties of this curse are the carriers of Dengue Fever, Malaria, West Nile Virus, and Encephalitis. The mosquito is found in every climatized corner of the globe and the deadly vector varieties put almost half of the world population at risk of infection every year. The mosquito also is a food source for birds, bats, frogs and fish, to name a few, and is an integral part of the circle of life.
Most methods used for controlling this insect, such as aerial spraying, and fogging, also eliminate many beneficial insects such as honey bees and butterflies or a variety of insects that are food sources for animals throughout the food chain, thus interrupting the natural order. By treating areas where mosquitos breed, recently developed larvicides and insecticides have achieved much greater specificity in eliminating the targeted species with little or no effect on non targeted insects.
Because of the serious consequences inflicted on human beings by these disease carrying insects, huge research and development efforts aimed at controlling their populations have been, and continue to be, carried on throughout the world. These efforts, that seek to find a weakness in the armor of this formidable adversary run the gamut from gene alteration to motorized suction fans with carbon dioxide attractants. Some of these devices try to exploit the fact that most of these creatures, and in particular the dengue, malaria, and west nile virus vectors, require a water source for incubating eggs. Since much is known about the breeding habits of these species and attempts have been made, most recently as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,389,740 and 5,983,557, both entitled Lethal Mosquito Breeding Container, and both authored by Perich et al and dated May 2002 and November 1999 respectively, to attract the gravid female to these sites where they or their litter or both would be eliminated. Indeed, a controlled field study (Field Evaluation of a Lethal Ovitrap Against Dengue Vectors in Brazil; Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Volume 17, issue 2 page 205-June 2003, Perich et al), proved that a field deployed mosquito trap could compete successfully with other available incubating sources in the field. Although the design of the trap used in this study, as well as all others before them, have some of the attributes of the ideal mosquito trap ie: low cost, efficacy, specificity to mosquitos, and low environmental impact, they have two negative attributes which limits their use to mere scientific experimentation: 1) they require periodic maintenance to replenish fluid levels, larvicide/insecticide concentrations, etc. and 2) if not maintained properly or if the container is overlooked, once the initial larvicide/insecticide dilutes or otherwise becomes ineffective, the container then becomes an incubator, producing more insects and creating exactly the opposite desired effect.
3. Objects and Advantages
The mosquito trap described in this application has all the advantages sought by others in the past in that it is low in cost, efficiently eliminates both the adult female and her offspring, is specific to mosquitos and is environmentally benign. In addition it overcomes the two major obstacles faced by all other mosquito traps since it requires no maintenance and at the end of its useful life it biodegrades and therefore cannot become a breeding container, making it an ideal candidate for widespread use by the general public. Accordingly, several objects and advantages of this invention are:                (a) To reduce the mortality rate of human beings because of infection from mosquito vectors carrying deadly diseases.        (b) To reduce human suffering from diseases carried by mosquitos.        (c) To reduce irritations caused by mosquito bites.        (d) To reduce the effects of environmentally harmful mosquito control practices.        
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the ensuing description and drawings.